TGS 2001 Fall: Hands-on: Nezmix

Media Vision's upcoming Nezmix was playable in Microsoft's booth at this fall's TGS. The game seems to have a few interesting ideas, though many of its systems and mechanics feel as if they're still in their formative stages.

The premise is simple: As the leader of a mouse gang, you have to fight groups of rivals off your turf, which is a huge human house. This involves traversing the interior of the house, from a rodent's point of view, and systematically chasing down the retreating rival gang member through its different areas. While you'd think that the concept would imply a full-on free-roaming method of travel, the way you explore the house is very different. In effect, any of the paths you can take are entirely scripted, allowing you to move in only two directions--forward and backward. You'll often come across crossroads of sorts, which let you take different paths that lead to different areas of the house. Still, forward and backward will ultimately be your only options as far as the minute-to-minute gameplay is concerned. The camera will trail you and your gang at many different angles throughout the course of play, though, which does much to perpetuate the illusion of free-roaming. You'll also be able to wall-crawl during some sequences, which is achieved by pressing and holding down the A button when prompted.

Throughout your travels, you'll come across a variety of objects to interact with. Some are relevant to the game's puzzles, while others seem designed to trigger amusing cutscenes. Whatever the case, the free-look function will trigger your interactions with these objects. Activated by the left trigger, the free-look summons forth a sort of reticle, which you can use to zero in on any object in the world. If you're able to use it, to any extent, you'll be alerted by an onscreen "check" prompt appearing on the reticle. Once the fact that you can indeed mess with the object in some way has been confirmed, you'll be able to choose which member (or members) of your gang will do the messing. Among other things, we were able to switch on a lamp, stick a plug in a socket, and, with the help of a fellow gang member, push an obtrusive stuffed animal on its side. The free-look function is also what you'll use to spot your hiding rivals. Simply point the reticle at him, and off he'll go.

Eventually, though, you'll corner him, at which time he'll call his gang. When this happens, a rodent-sized rumble ensues. Powering this is a simplified fighting system, one that lets you punch, block, and execute backward, evasive dashes. The punches come in the one-two variety, though if you hold your button down, you'll enact a wicked haymaker that will send your opponents flying. The rumbles tend to be pretty pitched, if the demo is any indication, and your pals will play fairly large roles, provided they're close enough to their enemies to recognize their presence. In many cases, their range of perception seemed as short as a few inches. When they were engaged, though, they were pretty stalwart.

It's clear where the developer is channeling most of its resources, though, because Nezmix is a very nice-looking game. The "fur rendering" system used on the mice's actual hides achieves its goal quite well--the mice look suitably downy and fuzzy. The game's environmental textures are also pretty exquisite--easily among the best we've seen on any platform.

At this point, Nezmix is still in a very early state, and we've a sneaking suspicion it will change a great deal before it's released. Hopefully, it will be able to transcend the limitations placed on it by the lack of wholly free movement. We'll keep you posted.